page_title: Saturdays of Thunder
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Saturdays of Thunder / Production
caption_attribution_description: Sam Simon at the 2008 World Series of Poker
context_page_description: "Saturdays of Thunder" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 14, 1991. In the episode, Homer realizes he knows little about Bart and strives to be a better father. When he learns Bart is competing in a Soap Box Derby, Homer helps him make a racer. Bart drives Martin's far superior racer instead, hurting Homer's feelings. Homer eventually realizes he must be a good father by supporting Bart.
  The episode was written by Ken Levine and David Isaacs, and directed by Jim Reardon. American actors Larry McKay and Phil Hartman voiced guest appearances as a television announcer and Troy McClure respectively. "Saturdays of Thunder" features cultural references to films such as Ben-Hur, Lethal Weapon, and Days of Thunder.
  Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics, who praised its sports theme. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 14.9, and was the highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.
context_section_description: The episode was written by Ken Levine and David Isaacs, and directed by Jim Reardon. The inspiration for it originated from a line in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge", a previous episode in which Marge bans Bart and Lisa from watching their favorite cartoon, The Itchy & Scratchy Show, and Bart tells Lisa "Let's go finish our soap box racers." Actor Phil Hartman made his fourth guest appearance on The Simpsons in this episode as the voice of celebrity Troy McClure. The character appears at the beginning of the episode in I Can't Believe They Invented It!, a television show that Homer watches. Larry McKay guest starred as the television announcer at the Soap Box Derby.
  The idea for the subplot of Homer's parenting originated from a real fatherhood test executive producer Sam Simon found and brought to the Simpsons studio. Levine later commented on writing the episode, "At the time David and I were writing this, my son, Matt, was about Bart's age. [...] So for me there was a certain amount of guilt associated, like 'Do I know my son's hobby? Do I know my son's best friend?' etc." The scene in which Bart welds on his racer resulted in an argument between the staff and Fox's censors, who were concerned that children would imitate Bart and misuse welding tools. The staff was able to convince them that very few children can even access welding tools.
caption: Executive producer Sam Simon found a real fatherhood test that served as the inspiration for the episode's subplot.
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